The new Sri Lankan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mohamed Hussein Mohamed will arrive on Tuesday to take up his new assignment at the country’s mission in Riyadh.

Hussein Mohamed, former mayor of Colombo, succeeds Vadivel Krishnamoorthy who took over the post of ambassador to the Lankan mission in Kenya on Tuesday.

Hussein Mohamed is the son of former Sri Lankan speaker Haniffa Mohamed, a founding member of the Constituent Council of the Muslim World League in Makkah.

The incoming envoy will meet the country’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday in Colombo before he embarks on his new assignment in the Kingdom. He was also accorded a reception by the National Council of Young Men’s Muslim Association (NCYMMAs) in Colombo on Saturday.

The ambassador-designate has also served the Western Provincial Council as its elected member. Currently, he is the vice president of the Colombo Islamic Center, which is affiliated to organizations such as the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Muslim World League, Organization of Islamic Conference and the Karachi-based World Muslim Congress.

During his mayoralty stint from 1989 to 1991, he also served as vice president of the Asia Pacific Union of Local Authorities.

Sri Lanka set up its embassy in Jeddah in 1983 with Dickman De Alwis as its first charge d’ affaires, where subsequently in 1993, the Saudi government reciprocated with a mission in Colombo appointing Abdullah Al-Zahrani as its charge d’ affaires. Later in 1985, the Lankan embassy moved its location to the capital, Riyadh.

Former ambassadors of Sri Lanka in the Kingdom include the late M.R.M. Thassim, late A.L.M. Hashim, late Cader Markar, Izzat Ahamed, Javid Yusuf, Nowfel Salih Jabir, Ibrahim Sahib Ansar, A.M.J. Sadiq, late A.A.M. Marleen , Ahmed A. Jawad and Krishnamoorthy who departed for Kenya last week, Arab News reports.